My skin-on-frame recovery kayak attracted a fair bit of attention as soon as I drove into the campsite at Ullswater with it on the roof of the car. I was suprised how many people remembered and recognised it from 2 years earlier when it was unskinned.

Straight away I had to start explaining that, even though it had been finished for 12 months, it’d never been in the water and I was just looking for someone to test it for me. Even once I’d explained that I don’t know how to kayak Richard, Dave and James insisted I be the first person in it on the water, lent me a jacket and life vest and promised not to let me drown.

It did feel very exciting to carry the kayak down to the water knowing that this was the real moment of truth and I would find out whether it would actually work. Once I’d managed to get inside, using the paddle to balance I was grateful that Dave and Richard were there to stabilise things. The recovery kayak is designed for surf and manoeuvrability so it feels unstable for a complete novice like me but once I’d got back out Richard took over to show how it’s done and it was brilliant to see it properly in action.